lecture art chapter20highlighted • Lincoln's#inaugural#address:# • Firm,#yetconciliatory# •...

I. The Menace of Secession

•  Lincoln's inaugural address: •  Firm, yet conciliatory

•  No conflict unless South provoked it •  Secession wholly impracCcal •  North and South conjoined twins, bound inseparably together

– Secession would create new controversies: • What share of federal debt should South be forced to take?

I. The Menace of Secession (cont.)

• What porCon of jointly held federal territories should Confederate states be alloKed?

•  How would fugiCve slave issue be resolved? – A united United States had been paramount republic in Western Hemisphere: •  If U.S.A. broke into two hosCle parts, Europe could:

–  Transplant their concept of balance of power –  Play divide-‐&-‐conquer game—creaCng a dis-‐United States

–  Defy Monroe Doctrine and seize territory in Western Hemisphere – exisCng colonies would be safer

II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter

–  Issue of divided Union came to a head over maKer of federal forts in South: •  As seceding states leY, they seized U.S. arsenals, mints, and other public property within their borders

•  Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor – With fort low on supplies, Lincoln adopted middle-‐of-‐the road soluCon

–  He noCfied South Carolinians that an expediCon would be sent to provision the garrison, though not to reinforce it

–  He promised “no effort to throw in men, arms, and ammuniCon”

–  To Southern eyes, “provision” sCll spelled “reinforcement”

II. South Carolina Assails Fort Sumter (cont.)

•  Union naval force started on its way to Fort Sumter—a move South regarded as act of aggression

•  April 12, 1861: Carolinians opened fire on fort •  AYer 34-‐hour bombardment, no lives lost, dazed garrison surrendered

•  North electrified and provoked to fighCng: –  Fort was lost, but Union saved –  Lincoln turned tacCcal defeat into a calculated victory


– Lincoln (April 15) issued call to states for 75,000 miliCamen: •  Volunteers sprang to colors •  April 19 and 27, president proclaimed blockade of Southern seaports

•  Call for troops aroused the South •  Lincoln now waging war—from Southern view an aggressive war—on Confederacy

•  Virginia, Arkansas Tennessee reluctantly joined Confederacy, as did North Carolina (see Map p. 437)


– Seven states became eleven as “submissionists” and “Union shriekers” were overcome

– Richmond, Virginia, replaced Montgomery, Alabama, as Confederate capital—too near Washington for strategic comfort on either side

Map 20-1 p423

III. Brothers' Blood and Border Blood

•  Border states: – Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware = only slave states leY in Union

– Contained: • White populaCon more than half that of enCre Confederacy

• With Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, manufacturing capacity of Confederacy would have doubled

III. Brothers' Blood and Border Blood (cont.)

•  Strategic Ohio River flowed along northern border of Kentucky and West Virginia (“mountain white” area that tore itself from Virginia in mid-‐1861) •  Two navigable tributaries, Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, penetrated deep into Dixie –  Area produced much of Confederacy's grain, gunpowder, and iron

– The Border States •  Lincoln successfully used methods of dubious legality •  In Maryland, he declared marCal law

•  Deployed Union troops to western Virginia and Missouri


– Statement of North's war aims profoundly influenced by need to hold Border States: •  Lincoln declared he was not fighCng to free slaves •  AnCslavery war extremely unpopular in “BuKernut” region of southern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois –  Area seKled by Southerners who carried racial prejudices with them

–  Hot-‐bed of pro-‐Southern senCment within Union

• War did not begin between slave soil and free soil, but began as war for Union—with slaveholders on both sides


– Slavery also shaped character of war in West: •  In Indian Territory, most Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Seminoles sided with Confederacy

•  Some Indians, esp. Cherokees, owned slaves

•  To secure their loyalty, Confederate government agreed to take over federal payments to tribes

•  In return, tribes supplied troops •  Some Cherokees and most Plains Indians sided with Union


– Conflict between “Billy Yank” and “Johnny Reb” a brothers' war (see pp. 426-‐427)

– Many Northern volunteers from Southern states

– Many Southern volunteers from Northern states – From Border States, one brother rode north (Blue) and one brother rode south (Gray)

IV. The Balance of Forces

– At first, South seemed to have great advantages: •  Could fight defensively behind interior lines •  North had to invade vast Confederacy, conquer it, and drag it back into Union

•  South only need a draw to win its independence •  South fought for self-‐determinaCon and preservaCon

•  South at first enjoyed high morale •  Militarily, South had most talented officers, esp. Lee

IV. The Balance of Forces (cont.)

•  Ordinary Southerners accustomed to managing horses and bearing arms

•  South seemed handicapped by scarcity of factories, but managed to obtain sufficient weaponry

– Southern Drawbacks: •  Grave shortages of shoes, uniforms, and blankets

•  Economy was South's greatest weakness, but North's greatest strength

•  North not only a huge farm but also a sprawling factory (see Table 20.1)

•  Rickety transportaCon system led to hunger for the confederate soldiers

Table 20-1 p425


•  Yankees boasted ¾ of naCon's wealth and ¾ of its 30,000 miles of railroads

•  North controlled seas with superior navy •  Sea power enabled North to exchange huge quanCCes of grain for muniCons and supplies from Europe

•  Union enjoyed much larger reserve of manpower: –  22 million populaCon

–  Seceding states 9 million, including 3.5 million slaves

•  Adding to North's advantages, European immigrants conCnued to pour into North (see Table 20.2)

Table 20-2 p428


•  1/5 of Union forces were foreign-‐born •  IniCally ordinary Northern boys less prepared than Southern counterparts for military life

•  Eventually the Northern soldiers became known for their discipline and determinaCon

•  North much less fortunate in its higher commanders •  Lincoln used trial-‐and-‐error methods to find most effecCve leaders, finally uncovering Ulysses S. Grant •  Northern strengths overCme proved decisive

•  Early in war, Confederate win quite possible


– Four fascinaCng might-‐have-‐beens: •  If Border States had seceded •  If uncertain states of upper Mississippi Valley had turned against Union

•  If wave of Northern defeaCsm had demanded an armisCce

•  If Britain and/or France had broken Union's naval blockade of Southern ports

•  Then South might well have won

•  But as four failed to materialize, South could not hope to win

V. Dethroning King CoKon

•  Successful revoluCons generally succeed because of foreign intervenCon: – Of Confederacy's potenCal assets, foreign intervenCon was most important

– Europe's ruling classes openly sympatheCc to Confederate cause: •  Had long abhorred American democraCc experiment •  Cherished fellow-‐feeling for South's semifeudal, aristocraCc social order

V. Dethroning King CoKon (cont.)

– Most working people in Britain pulled for North •  Had read Uncle Tom's Cabin and sensed that war might exCnguish slavery if North won

– Fearing opposiCon and home, England and France decided not to challenge Union's blockade

– BriCsh texCle mills depended on South for 75% of their coKon supplies


– Why did King CoKon fail South? •  Strong producCon in prewar years, 1857-‐1860 •  Exports had piled up surpluses in BriCsh warehouses •  Only later were many BriCsh workers unemployed •  Direct effects of “coKon famine” relieved by:

–  Union sent foodstuffs to feed unemployed BriCsh workers

–  Union victories gave North coKon to ship to Britain –  Confederates ran some coKon through blockades

–  CoKon growers in Egypt and India, responding to high prices, increased output and captured share of world coKon markets


–  Booming war industries in England, which supplied North and South, relieved unemployment

•  King Wheat and King Corn—the monarchs of Northern agriculture—proved more potent potentates than King CoKon

•  North produced bounCful crops of grain and harvested them with McCormick's mechanical reaper

•  because of bad harvests, Britain forced to import huge quanCCes of grain from America

•  England needed access to food more than access to coKon

VI. The Decisiveness of Diplomacy

•  Trent affair (1861)— – Union warship in Cuban waters stopped BriCsh mail steamer, Trent •  Took two Confederate diplomats bound for Europe

•  Britons outraged • War preparaCons buzzed

•  Red-‐coated troops embarked for Canada

•  Lincoln released two prisoners because not want to face two wars and same Cme

VI. The Decisiveness Diplomacy (cont.)

•  Alabama— – Second major crisis in Anglo-‐American relaCons: •  Non-‐neutral building in Britain of Confederate commerce-‐raiders –  Alabama escaped in 1862 to Portuguese Azores, loaded weapons and crews from two BriCsh ships that followed it

–  Flying Confederate flag and officered by Confederates, it was manned by Britons and never entered a Confederate port

•  Britain was chief naval base of Confederacy


•  “BriCsh pirate” captured over sixty vessels •  Alabama finally accepted challenge from a Union cruiser off coast of France in 1864 and was destroyed

•  Issue of BriCsh-‐built Confederate raiders stayed alive •  America’s Minister to Britain Charles Francis Adams prodded BriCsh to see that allowing such ships was dangerous precedent: –  Someday could be used against them


•  Britain did not remain neutral: –  Confederate commerce-‐destroyers, chiefly BriCsh-‐built, captured over 250 Yankee ships

–  Severely crippled American merchant marine

•  Angry Americans looked north and talked about grabbing Canada when war over

VII. Foreign Flare-‐ups

•  Final Anglo-‐American crisis: – Laird rams—two Confederate warships being constructed by John Laird and Sons in Great Britain

– Designed to destroy Union wooden ships with iron rams and large-‐caliber guns

– Minister Adams warned “this is war” if ships released

– London relented; bought the two ships for Royal Navy

VII. Foreign Flare-‐ups (cont.)

•  Britain: – Agreed in 1871 to submit Alabama dispute to arbitraCon

–  In 1872 paid American claimants $15.5 million for damages caused by commerce-‐raiders

– American rancor also directed at Canada: •  Confederate agents ploKed to burn Northern ciCes •  One Confederate raid into Vermont leY three banks plundered and one American ciCzen dead

VII. Foreign Flare-‐up (cont.)

•  Dominion of Canada 1867: – Two great naCons emerged from fiery furnace of American Civil War: •  One was reunited United States •  Other was a united Canada

•  Emperor Napoleon III: •  Dispatched a French army to occupy Mexico City •  Installed a puppet government with Austrian archduke Maximilian as emperor of Mexico

VII. Foreign Flare-‐up (cont.)

•  Both acts flagrant violaCons of Monroe Doctrine

– United States aided resistance movement led by Mexico's naConal hero: Benito Juarez •  AYer Civil War over, Americans prepared to head south to Mexico

•  Napoleon realized his gamble was doomed

•  Abandoned puppet gov't in 1867 •  Maximilian then executed by Mexican firing squad

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln

•  Confederate government weakness: –  Its consCtuCon contained one deadly defect •  Created by secession, it could not logically deny future secession to its consCtuent states

–  Jefferson Davis wanted a strong central government, but opposed by states' righters

– Richmond encountered difficulty persuading some troops to serve outside their own state

– Challenge of governing the ungovernable

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln (cont.)

•  Davis never enjoyed personal popularity and was oYen at loggerheads with his congress – Serious talk of impeachment – He overworked himself – Task proved beyond his abiliCes

VIII. President Davis Versus President Lincoln (cont.)

•  Lincoln had his troubles: –  Less experienced but more flexible than Davis –  Able to relax at criCcal Cmes

–  “Old Abe” grew as war dragged on –  Tacvul, quiet, paCent, yet firm

–  Developed genius for interpreCng and leading fickle public opinion

–  Demonstrated charitableness toward South and forbearance toward backbiCng colleagues

–  These challenges were somewhat offset by his long established government

IX. LimitaCons on WarCme LiberCes

•  Congress generally accepted or confirmed Lincoln's quesConable warCme acts

•  Lincoln did not expect his ironhanded authority to conCnue once war ended

•  Congress not in session when war started, so Lincoln gathered reins into his own hands –  Brushing aside legal objecCons, he proclaimed a blockade (later upheld by Supreme Court)

–  Arbitrarily increased size of Federal army—something only Congress can do under ConsCtuCon (see Art. I, Sec. VIII, para 12); Congress later approved

IX. LimitaCons on WarCme LiberCes (cont.)

–  Directed Treasury to advance $2 million without appropriaCon of security to 3 private ciCzens for military purpose:

»  Grave irregularity contrary to ConsCtuCon (see Art. I, Sec. IX, para. 7)

–  Suspended privilege of writ of habeas corpus so anC-‐Unionists could be arrested

»  Defied dubious ruling by chief jusCce that habeas corpus could be set aside only with authorizaCon of Congress (see Art. I., Sec. IX,para.2)

–  His regime was guilty of many other highhanded acts

•  Davis less able than Lincoln to exercise arbitrary power, mainly because of states' righters

X. Volunteers and DraYees: North and South

•  War demanded men—lots of men: – Northern armies first manned solely by volunteers •  Each state assigned a quota based on populaCon

– 1863 Congress passed first conscripCon law •  Grossly unfair to poor •  Could hire a subsCtute or pay $300 for exempCon rights

•  DraY opposed in DemocraCc strongholds of north, esp. New York dra> riots of 1863

X. Volunteers and DraYees: North and South (cont.)

•  Elsewhere in north, conscripCon met with resentment and occasional minor riot

•  90% of Union troops were volunteers •  Social and patrioCc pressures as well as generous bounCes

•  Deserters sCll plenCful—Union army recorded about 200,000 deserters

•  Confederate authoriCes plagued with deserCon problem of similar dimensions


•  The South: – Relied mainly on volunteers at first: •  Much less populous than North (see Table 20.3) •  Richmond resorted to conscripCon in 1862 (nearly 1 year before Union)

•  Robbed both “cradle and grave” (draY age 17 to 50) – Confederate draY worked serious injusCces

Table 20-3 p434


•  A man could hire a subsCtute or purchase exempCon

•  Slaveowners or overseers with 20 slaves could also claim exempCon

•  ConfederaCon conscripCon agents avoided areas inhibited by sharpshooCng mountain whites

XI. The Economic Stresses of War

•  Northern economy: – Had an easier Cme funding war: •  Excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol increased by Congress

•  Income tax levied for first Cme

•  Customs receipts provided important revenue

– Congress 1861 passed Morrill Tariff Act: •  Increased duCes some 5 to 10 percent •  Soon increased more by necessiCes of war

XI. The Economic Stresses of War (cont.)

–  Partly to raise revenue –  Partly to provide more protecCon for prosperous manufacturers hit by new internal taxes

•  ProtecCve tariff became idenCfied with Republican party, as most industrialists were Republican

– Greenbacks: • Washington issued paper money, totaling nearly $450 million at face value

•  PrinCng-‐press currency inadequately supported by gold, hence value determined by naCon's credit

•  InflaCon undercut value of paper money


– Bonds = major source of war funding: •  Government neKed $2,621,916,786 from sale of bonds

•  Methods of sale through “drives” and payroll deducCons not yet devised •  Treasury forced to market bonds through private banking house of Jay Cooke and Company, which received commission of three-‐eights of 1% • With profits and patrioCsm at stake, bankers succeeded in making effecCve appeals to ciCzen purchasers


•  NaDonal Banking System – Financial landmark of the war •  Authorized by Congress in 1863 •  Launched as sCmulant to sale of government bonds

•  Also established standard bank-‐note currency •  Banks that joined NaConal Banking System could buy government bonds and issue sound paper money backed by them


– First significant step toward a unified banking network since 1836: •  Existed for 50 years, unCl replaced by Federal Reserve System in 1913

•  Southern financial woes: – Custom duCes cut off by Union blockade – Confederate bonds sold amounted to $400 million –  Increased taxes sharply –  Imposed 10% levy on farm produce


– Short on revenue, government forced to print blue-‐backed paper money

– “Runaway inflaCon” occurred with treasury notes, totaling more than $1 billion

– Confederate dollar eventually worth only 1.6 cents –  InflaCon rate in Confederacy eventually 9,000% – Contrast only 80% for Union

XII. The North's Economic Boom

•  WarCme prosperity in North was liKle short of miraculous: – New factories, sheltered by new protecCve tariffs, mushroomed

– Soaring prices pinched day laborer and white-‐collar worker to some extent

– Manufacturers and businesspeople raked in “the fortunes of war”

XII. The North's Economic Boom (cont.)

– Civil War bred a millionaire class for first Cme in American history: •  GraY more flagrant in North partly because there was more to steal

•  Greedy put profits above patrioCsm

– New laborsaving machinery enabled North to expand economically: •  Even though war drained off manpower

•  Sewing machine wrought wonders in fabricaCng uniforms and military footwear


•  Marriage of military need and innovaCve machinery ended producCon of custom-‐tailored clothing –  Graduated standard measurements introduced

•  Mechanical reapers numbered 250,000 by 1865 –  Released tens of thousands of farm boys for army and fed them their field raCons

–  Produced vast surpluses of grain for export –  Helped dethrone King CoKon –  Provided profits to buy muniCons and supplies from abroad

–  Contributed to prosperity of North—a prosperity that enabled Union to weather war


•  Other industries hummed: – Discovery of petroleum (1859) •  “FiYy-‐Niners” to Pennsylvania •  Birth of “petroleum plutocracy” and “coal oil Johnnies”

– 300,000 pioneers conCnued to push westward •  Homestead Act (1862)

– Only ocean-‐carrying trade suffered crippling setback


•  Civil War a women's war, too: • Women oYen assumed men's jobs as men went to war

• Washington, D.C., 500 women became government clerks, with more than 100 in Treasury Department •  Countless women drawn into industrial employment

•  Some stepped up to fighCng front: –  Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, America's 1st female physician helped organize U.S. Sanitary Commission to assist Union armies


– U.S. Sanitary Commission: •  Trained nurses, collected medical supplies, and equipped hospitals

•  Helped women acquire organizaConal skills and self-‐confidence that would propel women's movement •  Clara Barton and Dorothea Dix helped transform nursing into respecvul profession

•  Equally renowned was Sally Tompkins, who ran infirmary for wounded Confederates

– Women organized bazaars and fairs to raise money

XIII. A Crushed CoKon Kingdom

•  South fought to point of exhausCon: – Suffered destrucCon of war and suffocaCon of blockade

– Possessed 30% of naConal wealth (1860), South claimed only 12% in 1870

– Civil War squeezed average Southern income to 2/5 of Northern level (had been 2/3 in 1860)

– Bid for independence exacted devastaCng cost

XIII. A Crushed CoKon Kingdom (cont.)

– TransportaCon collapsed: •  Driven to economic cannibalism of pulling up rails to repair main ones

– Window weights melted down into bullets – Gourds replaced dishes

•  To end, South mustered remarkable spirit: – Women buoyed up menfolk – Proposal made that women cut long hair and sell it abroad, but stopped by blockade

XIII. A Crushed CoKon Kingdom (cont.)

– Women took pride in denying themselves silks and saCns of Northern sisters

•  At war's end, North's Captains of Industry had conquered South's Lords of the Manor

•  CoKon capitalism lost out to industrial capitalism

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